Building a computer, yadda, yadda, yadda.. Just like every other topic that gets posted on here haha.. I have a whole $1400 to spend. I was originally planning on keeping it under $1000, and I probably could if I swapped out the i7 with a Quad Core, but the way I see it, the extra money is worth it so I don't have to spend it down the road. Or am I wrong?

1 x Cooler Master - Centurion 534, Black w/ Window ($69.99)

1 x Intel - Core i7 Processor 920 2.66GHz w/ 8MB Cache ($374.99)

1 x Gigabyte - GA-EX58-DS4 w/ TripleDDR3 2100, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, PCI-E, CrossFireX ($279.99)

1 x Patriot - Extreme Performance Viper Series DDR3 6GB (3 x 2GB) PC3-10666 Enhanced Latency DIMM Kit ($119.99)

1 x Western Digital - 320GB Caviar Blue 7200rpm SATA II w/ 16MB Cache ($59.99)

1 x eVGA - e-GeForce 9800 GT 512MB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out ($159.99)

1 x ANTEC - TruePower Trio 650W Power Supply w/ Triple +12V ($119.99)

1 x Microsoft - Windows Vista Home Basic x64 (64-bit) DVD w/ SP1, OEM, 1-Pack ($115.99)

Grand Total: $1365 after GST

Now, there's a couple things. I have an older system I can steal some parts out of. Unfortunately the only thing that could really be used is the DVD-Writer. So that saves me $30 or so. There is a 160GB HD in there, but I don't know what speed its at. I'm going to turn it on later and check, and if it somehow happens to be 7200RPM I'll just use that instead, saving me another $60.

As well, I really am not sure what size of PSU to use with these parts. My friend suggested I get AT LEAST 700W, so I threw a 650W in there as a placeholder. Does anyone know for sure what size I will need?

And I know this question was somewhat answered in a previous topic I made, but is it a good idea to use the i7? I know it's expensive, and to keep costs down I had to skimp a tad on the video card and case, but I'm assuming it will last me a HELL of a lot longer than say a Quad Core. I know I could overclock the Quad to get some crazy good speeds, but I could also run this thing at stock for a while, and then a couple years down the road when it needs it, OC it. Can this chip take an OCing in comparison to others?

If you have any suggestions as to places where I could cut costs, or maybe should spend a little more, let me know. Like for example, getting a 9600 instead of the 9800 for cheaper. Stuff like that.

Thanks a bunch guys.

If i were you, I would not spend too much on a laptop. The fastest graphics cards for the laptops are the gtx 200 series that were just released. And they are only as powerfull as the 9800gtx+. So they are a full generation behind anything the desktop has to offer. They might be close in ram but the processor on the desktop (corei7) just blows anything the laptops have to offer at this moment.

So basically, you can have an extreme desktop pc or mediocre laptop for the same price. and I would wait for the gtx 275 about to come out next month as it will be about $240 and is about the same performance as the gtx 280.

stormfuzz

Ya I think that will get me the most bang for my buck for sure.

Hmm.. Well I think I'm going to go with the i7. I dont see much point in buying parts that are at the end of their life cycle.

Wow I really wasn't expecting all the helpful opinions on here. Thanks a bunch guys.

As far as montiors and speakers and such goes, I have older monitors that I can steal from old computers of mine. And we've got spare sets of decent speakers, so the peripherals aren't really an issue. I may want to get a new monitor down the road, but for now these will do me.

And if I'm going to be dropping all this money into a computer, I would prefer to not be "stuck" as far as upgrading goes. If I can keep the same basic computer structure (CPU, Mobo, etc) for say, 3 years and still be able to run the newest games, I will be very pleased.

I can't remember who said it, but if I run the i7 920 with 4-6GB of RAM, and a slightly older card (maybe a 9800 GT or a 3870 or something), I'll still be able to get good performance for current games, without having to get a more advanced card?

EDIT: I guess another question I have is, what brand of RAM should I look into? Would I get better performance from say, 4GB Corsair or Kingston (the only brands I really know if lol) over 6GB of Patriot (brand I've never heard of, but there's a good deal on right now). Basically, quality over quantity? And what brands are good?

You should look into the Phenom II X4 from AMD/ATI which are some very good preocessors and overclock very well. That's their newer line. If not I would look into the Q9550/Q9650. With that budget you can also go a minimum of GTX260 core 216 / HD48701gb upwards. $1000 budget is pretty good, and if you do go $1400 then that's even better.

lundy86_4

Thanks for all the replies guys. I will definately look into all of these options. I had another question though. Do you think it's better to spend more on a CPU now, rather than a GPU? Like say, shell out the extra money for the i7 + mobo, and then just throw a cheaper card in for now? My train of thought is that it will be a lot easier to upgrade 2-3 years from now when all I have to do is throw in a new GPU, rather than replace the whole mobo and such.

EDIT: Lundy.. I just looked at prices for the Q9550/9650 at my local Memory Express (easiest place to get computer parts from where I live), and they actually run for right around the same price as the i7. The 9550 saves me about 50 bucks, and the 9650 actually costs about 40 bucks more.

Hey guys. I don't know if this is the right place to post this or not but I'm going to anyways haha. So I am losing my current laptop in about a month because I need to give it back to my school, so I decided to get a new one. I like the idea of portable gaming and such, so I decided to buy a Dell Studio XPS 16. BIG mistake, let me tell ya haha. Had some severe network connectivity issues with my home wireless network when none of my other computers did, so I called them and am getting my $1400 refunded.

With all that said, I've been thinking about it more, and have considered more and more that I might build myself a desktop for about a grand or so, and then get an ultra cheap laptop when my second course resumes in the fall again. Either that, or spend all $1400 on a desktop.

I have a friend who has built computers for himself before, so thats not a problem. I'm just curious as to what stuff I should put into it? I'm pretty much only going to buy Intel, as AMD has clearly dropped the ball just based on looking at benchmarkings of various processors. I've looked at the i7 pretty heavily, and it sure looks a hell of a lot faster than even the Quad Cores, but it is kind of costly right now. And I know that the place where your going to lose graphics in games is the GPU rather than the processor, but I think I'd rather have a better, more upgradable processor, and skimp on the GPU right now, because as is my understanding, its a lot easier to just plug a new GPU in instead of upgrading the CPU and Mobo and such.

Any opinions?

I just got a new laptop, and was looking for some games to play with it. I used to LOVE AA back in the day, and that was playing on a computer that had to run it on low settings, 1024x768, and still only getting around 30fps. So when I got my new machine, I was like "I miss that game".

However, does anyone still play it? I was going to download it last night, and while it was downloading I looked at the forums, and in the "newbies" forum there were only like, 5 or 6 posts made in the last few months. I dont wanna waste time downloading if there's gonna be no one on.

Ok, here's the deal.

I didn't buy Rock Band 1, so I have none of the instruments. I do however, have 2 GH2 controllers that can be used with RB2. (I actually prefer them to the RB1 guitar.) So I want to play RB2 when it comes out on Sept14. I don't want to wait until October whenever. So my plan is to buy the game, and the drum set on the 14th, and then buy a cheap USB microphone. The total should come to just under what the package deal costs.

So I went into an EB games today and was like "I wanna pre-order the drums, and game for RB2" and they were like "The package deal?" and I was like "No, just game and drums". And they were like "the drums don't come out till October along with the package deal". And so I was like "Uh, no. Your website and futureshop say differently, bye."

Who's correct here? Am I going to have to wait till October to get a drum set? Cuz the understanding I had was that you can buy the guitar, the drums, and the game all seperately on the 14th, but can't get the package till October.

So whats the deal?